B/X Monsters A to Z: Goblin

 When I think back to my earliest days playing D&D, the monster I think of most isn't the dragon. It isn't the orc, the gelatinous cube, or the ogre. It's the goblin, from the Basic Set, naturally.

Goblins are stated to be small, incredibly ugly human-like creatures. How small, exactly, isn't specified; they could be dwarf-size, halfling-size, or smaller, depending on how you like your goblins. The entry does tell us that they have red eyes that glow in low light, and pale earth-colored skin, "chalky tan" and "livid gray" being given as examples. They're identified as avowed underground-dwellers, with infravision to a 90' range. Full daylight hurts their eyes, and they fight at a -1 penalty. They hate dwarves so fiercely that they will always attack them on sight, so no negotiating with goblins if there's a dwarf in the party! There's also a 20% chance that one in four goblins encountered will be riding dire wolves, which substantially increases the challenge of any goblin encounter.

Goblins have AC 6, fairly respectable for low-level monsters, and 1-1 HD, which means they attack on the same line of the table as Normal Humans, i.e. one point below 1st-level characters. They're neither particularly strong nor weak, doing normal weapon damage (typically 1-6 points.) At 60'(20') movement, they're not very fast, and their Morale of 7 indicates creatures not keen to throw their lives away for the sake of winning a battle. 

In their usual dungeon encounter numbers of 2-8 individuals, goblins can pose a decent threat to most 1st level adventuring parties, especially those lacking a strong contingent of well-armored fighters, clerics, or demihumans. After 1st level their threat falls off pretty sharply, but in larger numbers they can still be menacing. Dungeon lairs run to 6-60 individuals, including a king with 3 HD, 15 hit points, and a +1 bonus to damage, plus his bodyguard of 2-12 HD 2 goblins with 2-12 hp. These tougher goblins can even endure daylight and fight without penalty. While the king is alive and with them, the rank-and-file goblins have Morale of 9 rather than 7. Add in the potential presence of allied dire wolves, and a lair of goblins could be a decent workout for even mid-Expert level parties. A wilderness lair may harbor up to 300 goblins.

Goblins aren't terribly lucrative monsters to fight, but even those encountered randomly will yield Treasure Type R, 2-12 pieces of electrum per individual, which is not bad pocket change for 1st and 2nd level characters. Their lairs have Type C, which is a deeply mediocre type with a fair chance (25% each) of some gems and jewelry to sweeten the pot. Curiously, the entry for Gnome states that gnomes war with goblins and kobolds who steal their precious gold, but there's no gold at all in Type C. Makes one wonder what they do with it... maybe exchange it straight away for something? Something weird, perhaps?

The connection between goblins and dire wolves almost certainly springs from the alliance between goblins and wargs in Tolkien's Middle-earth. In Tolkien's world, wargs are intelligent and evil, and seem to ally with the goblins as equal partners. AD&D's "worgs" are described as evil-natured and having their own language. Curiously, B/X opted to leave out "worgs" (or some other form of wargs with the serial numbers filed off) and pairs goblins with ordinary dire wolves instead. B/X dire wolves seem more closely related to (though larger than) the extinct real world dire wolves, though. There's no mention of them having a language or being evil. It's stated in the dire wolf entry that they are trained by goblins (emphasis mine). So, their relationship in B/X is not a full partnership in mayhem, but a simple matter of an intelligent species domesticating an animal. Frankly, I prefer the possibilities of the former more than the latter, but I digress.

Why are goblins so iconic to D&D in my mind? Partly because they're likely to be encountered early in a campaign, and partly because I have a firm notion of what the term "goblin" means in my mind. (Tolkien uses the term "goblin" in The Hobbit, but then confirms it in LotR to be either synonymous to the term "orc" or possibly a particular breed of the wider orc species.) Goblins in B/X are expressly subterranean, they're not particularly well-suited to combat, and they have bigger, tougher leaders. I imagine them mostly being mean, crafty, sneaky little bastards, a bit bloodthirsty but not brave or strong enough to make much of it most of the time. They'll use trickery and subterfuge whenever they can, unless driven to rage by the presence of a dwarf. They're weak enough to be bullied by larger humanoids like gnolls, hobgoblins, and bugbears, but clever enough that they could be of use to their bigger cousins or even act as the brains of the operation while the others serve as dumb muscle -- probably a tenuous relationship. Or they might form alliances on more or less equal (though again, probably tenuous) terms. They might in turn bully kobolds, but alternatively might be so accustomed to conniving that they trick them into service instead.

A party dealing with goblins should always be on their guard for outright deceit when the goblins think they can get away with it, and clever manipulation, weasel-wording, and strategic omission of information when they can't. Goblins are opportunists, and they always want something from everyone they encounter. Whether they're willing to go all-out to get it is another matter, but they're at least going to make an exploratory effort, and they'll start the bidding cheap. What, exactly, goblins might want is where you can have some fun. Don't just go for treasure; make them inscrutable. Maybe they take a shine to the fighter's sword and will accept no substitute. Maybe they want their weight in shrieker flesh, or a fancy plumed hat for each member of the group, or a wheel of the local village's finest sharp cheese. Why? Who knows what they do with this stuff? Maybe they have some secret use for it, or maybe it's just the challenge of getting it they crave. Either way, what DM wouldn't love to hear the players groaning not, "Oh no, another fight with goblins?!" but "Oh no, what are they going to ask for this time?"